spritzer

No, that would be a certain commercial amp designed to explode your headphones. I think that is the only thing that explains that crap design... This is for dynamic and magneto planar headphones and a way of getting close to a balanced Dynafet performance for not a whole lot of money. So while this can in theory swing enough to drive electrostatics nobody would build it like that (save for somebody wanting to upstage Krell). Recommended PSU is +/-30V.

Could be. The skeptic in me only sees this as a next step to show how inferior all the commercial amps are an then voila, I have this clearly superior alternative at a low, low price...

How about here, just now...

I'd be nervous about this too even if one looks past the rumors of a serious design error in the LF amps. The BHSE will last for as long as the capacitors hold up (15-20 years) and will be good as new once they are replaced. I wouldn't bother with the upgrade. People are not happy with the new WES amps and this is indeed one of the reasons.

The build quality with the modern Quad stuff is indeed a problem. Basic stuff such as the glue to use for the diaphragm isn't all so easy to do correctly and it's clear IAG missed some of the finer points of the ESL63 design. Such as the very frugal British way of having all the circuits of separate PCB's so if one fails you just change that one instead of scrapping the whole thing.

So he bashes Ti to gain some attention, releases some hyped up DIY garbage for the noobs out to prove a point they don't even understand and is now going to focus on a commercial venture? Yup, we called it...

Ehh on this one I believe you just short to ground and the chip shuts off the output. Most chip amps have something like this.

It's not like Stax didn't go down that path before. Anybody remember the Aperio-1 or wtf they were called?

Well pretty much anything can drive speakers (M3 even) but yeah, it can. This thing can swing 400V P-P into a 8ohm load with a massive PSU to match.

I've been talking to one of their reps about this so we'll see what comes of it. If they are indeed at end of life then I'll purchase a supply that will last us a long time.

My whole issue with IAG has to do with zero innovation of the electrostatics because they simply don't have the know how to do so. Adding a strut to a floating frame and simply adding on some extra panels just confirms that. They are still great speakers but that's just because of a truly gifted design. As for Stax, only time will tell how this will play out but I don't really see how they will pull off portable Stax headphones. The amps can be made tiny with modern parts and very efficient drivers but they will never be as convenient as something with a 3.5mm plug...

There are in fact two versions of these connectors out there so this is a known issue.

Makes me proud to be Icelandic...

Aren't they all the same save for some "magic goop"?

Nothing wrong with liking either the Exstata or the EHHA but those designs are both highly compromised and I'd never consider them high end with those specs. The Exstata was in fact a failure IMO since it wasn't cheap, wasn't easy to build, it didn't outperform similarly priced Stax offerings and it wasn't readily available. These were all core values this "Volksamp" was supposed to fulfill but didn't. I do blame myself for some of this since I got fed up with Cavalli's "secret clan" methods and hiding away in hidden forums so I washed my hands of the whole affair. To some this may seem strange coming from "the Don of the Stax Mafia" but the Mafia is all about free flow of information. Not all of it is out in the open but then again not all of the members are forum members. Indeed... Justin.Get.Some.SED's!!!

So he basically has a BS in BS? Explains quite a bit...

Indeed, I didn't even read that "review" until now (somebody posted the weight in one of the meet impression threads). That piece is almost as bad as Skylabs A-10 review...

No weight saving there. A r-core is essentially just a toroid designed to save space.

The way I see it Alex Cavalli has a lot to prove after the Exstata fuckup. Now none of his amps are well designed so if he's smart then he took the fixed Exstata design KG sent him and used that. That amp would not be quite up to the standard of the KGSSHV but not a bad attempt. Largely stolen from the 90's Stax amps though but lets just leave that aside. Here is what my take on this amp looks like: It was done from the KGSSHV boards so that's why they are so similar. Now for what's actually in the box, we'll have to wait and see but reports of it running cool and being very light (8lbs) aren't very promising. Certainly doesn't point to a high bias outputstage and the large heatsinks/transformer needed to sustain it. One thing that we can be sure of is that NoNoNoNoNoNo has become the laughing stock of HF for his blatant shilling of this amp. Lots of discussion about this and the few people considering an amp have all backed off due to this.

If it comes to that then I'll just buy a few thousand and sell them back to people as is needed.

Ditto.

That is certainly on my to-do list. The F5 will be interesting...

The 1500V bias might make the Jades better...or kill them. Doesn't matter much to me... It's a real shame that the floats don't fit my head though, perhaps a custom unit is in order. Perhaps a TakeT type affair with those huge drivers.

Happy Birthday!!!

The MIT interconnects I've opened have a 100K resistor between the signal and ground, nothing more.